The world would call what I do “clinical herbalism,” though as far as I’m concerned, there’s very little that’s “clinical” about my approach.
Yes, I will give you gobs and gobs of paperwork to fill out because it keeps things structured, but the paperwork is a formality; the conversation is where the real work begins.
We will talk; I will listen and pull at the threads to untangle what’s hiding beneath what brought you to see me. Herbalism is one of the most personal forms of care you can receive, and it needs to be personal.
Herbalism needs to take all of you into account —your body, your preferences, your limitations, your culture — and fit into your life, not try to mold you to fit into something you’re not.
It goes so much deeper than simply “what herb is good for ____?” I can prattle off the information I’ve learned over the years that tells me what herb may be good for this or that, when to recommend and when not to, but none of that means anything until I get to know you.
And in that same vein, I think it’s important for you to know me too. I find most “about” pages to be impersonal, to read like a CV, or to give you a quick sales-pitch overview of “why you should choose me.” From a business standpoint, I understand it; it’s what everyone is told to do.
However, we are going to spend quite a bit of time together at the beginning, and if I were on the other side, about to invest my time and money in someone, I would want to know more than just their degrees. I would want to get to know them.
Can I tell this person about my bathroom routines? My sleep patterns? I know I’m lactose intolerant, but cheese has me in a chokehold, and I don’t want to give it up.
To the best of my ability, I will tell you about myself. I’ll imagine we are sitting together, and because this is my imagination, we’ll be somewhere nice—not an office with chairs that look like they should be plush but sag in all the wrong places, but maybe two friends on a hike, or sitting on the beach watching the tides roll in and out, or at a kitchen table with tea and cookies.
So, who is Afua?
I’m a Black herbalist also known as an odunsini — the Akan word for traditional healer, a lover of animals, nature, and libraries, a keeper of an unreasonable number of books stacked around my house, and a frequent coddiwompler. I grew up in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, in Tuolumne County on Mi Wuk land. A side effect of growing up in a town that, at the time, had fewer than 1,000 people, is that I have always wanted to see more. ‘There’s a whole world out there’ has been a central thought for as long as I can remember, so I make it a point to see as much of it as I can, while I can. I’m curious; I like to ask questions until something makes sense or doesn’t, but even the confusion or illogic can be a conclusion. I like to dig deep into topics and learn as much as I can. I value autonomy, practicality, and, perhaps most importantly, joy and a good quality of life.
In my cultural practice, an ailment is often understood as a physical manifestation of an underlying imbalance, and the whole person needs to be taken into account to identify the root cause of the symptoms. My role is more than just matching herbs to symptoms; I work with you and the plants to root out potential causes and address them together.
I don’t believe that you must become a completely different person to benefit from things that make you feel like the best version of yourself. I don’t think there is ever a one-size-fits-all when it comes to people, whether it’s herbs, health, food, or what “wellness” is “supposed” to look like.
Humans are spectacularly more complicated and multi-faceted than that. I do believe that if you choose to work with herbs, they should fit into your life, and not the other way around. Herbal medicine has been around for thousands of years, and in our modern age, we have enough going on without adding another chore.
It shouldn’t be a chore; it should broaden your life. I think we can all improve our lives without making ourselves miserable in the process or being so constrained by arbitrary “rules” that we forget to live.
Herbalism is not a checklist of symptoms and traits to mark off; it’s a conversation. A long, ongoing conversation we have together. You bring your daily life, your past, your lived experiences, and I’ll bring my training and experience, and together we come up with a plan that makes sense for you and your life as you are currently living it and how you would like to live it, not some fantastical idea of “health” and “wellness.”
And in case you’re interested in another formality, here’s a
list of my herbal eduation.
